Calvine High School (Sacramento, California)
Calvine High School is a high school located in Sacramento County, California directly next to Elk Grove, California.
School history
Calvine gets its name from the California Vineyard Company, a huge grape growing enterprise of the early 1900s, located east of Bradshaw Road. Calvine Road leads from what is now Highway 99 to the land belonging to the company. Calvine was the outgrowth of two smaller high schools. They were Omochumnes High, with its Miwok Indian name, located near what is now the Education Center, and Pioneer High, which had been at two different locations during its lifespan.
Curricular activities
Calvine students have participated in many curricular activities such as Marsh Madness, which was a youth leadership program. This program helps train Calvine students to mentor elementary school students on all aspects of existing natural resources. Some other activities that Calvine students experience are things like “In a Blink of an Eye” which shows students what can happen when teenagers participate in illegal street racing; which is the loss of one's life. Another activity that students participate in is the trip to the nimbus fish hatchery where students observe the final stages of salmon migration.
Calvine students participate in a rigorous service learning program using nearby areas for environmental studies. Students learn in a non-classroom environment while taking part in community enhancing projects fostering real world learning.
Many students choose to hang out in the nearby park smoking cigarettes and sometimes marijuana before and after school hours. This is done in plain sight of school resource officers and site personnel who supervise the school parking lot before and after school. It is not uncommon for students to get dropped off at school by parents or legal guardians and leave for the park to smoke, arriving at the school late after the bell has rung. Even though neighbors have pointed this out to the school principal, he chooses not to investigate and tells concerned neighbors to summon law enforcement. Accumulation of garbage and graffiti in the local area stemming from the school do not inspire school staff to take actions in the faith of good neighbors, the school principal has been noted on more than one occasion to tell people to call the sheriff department as it's not his job to do anything about wayward,students from the school.
School staff
The school currently employs eleven teachers and various other staff members. Numerous staff members have enrolled their own children at Calvine High School to ease their burden of school work from the comprehensive high schools. It was noted that one teacher had her own son in numerous classes where he was passed simply for showing up for school. [1]
School information
The school does not have a uniform policy, and does not have a dress code for all students. Students generally dress however they wish, red/black or blue/black as the school administration chooses to overlook situations that might cause additional work in discussing proper clothing options with students or involving parents in their child's education. Boys routinely wear their pants in a sagging style with under garment exposed, and girls wear sleeveless tops and very short shorts to school on a normal basis. Site administration is more interested in doing nothing to contribute to teaching students about life after high school and appropriate dress for success. Students choose to attend either morning or afternoon sessions depending on their personal needs or schedules.
Goals
Calvine High School is a credit recovery program for credit deficient students. Much of the recovery work and assignments are not age or grade level appropriate. Several teachers have been noted authorizing credits for graduation simply because they like the students, rather than having them engage in rigorous learning activities. Fortunately, students are no longer required to pass the California High School Exit Exam as many were ill prepared for the test due to the weak academic program the school offers.